Letter to the House on the Financial Services and General Government FY17 Appropriations Bill

June 21, 2016

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the three million members of the National Education Association and the students they serve, we strongly urge you to Vote No on the Financial Services and General Government FY17 appropriations bill because of the inclusion of the language to reauthorize the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act (H.R. 4901). The SOAR Act reauthorizes the Washington D.C. private school voucher program. Votes associated with this issue may be included in the Legislative Report Card for the 114th Congress.

The D.C. private school voucher program is diverting funds from public to private schools at a time when sequester-level budget cuts are hurting students by leaving essential federal programs like Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) severely underfunded. All public schools need sufficient funding as they begin implementing the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). In light of these realities, we call on Members of Congress who support public education to oppose continuation of the D.C. voucher program.

Vouchers deprive students of important rights and protections. Private schools that participate in the D.C. voucher program receive public money, but they are not subject to all the federal civil rights laws that public schools must meet—they may discriminate against a student based on his or her gender, disability, religion, economic background, national origin, academic record, English language ability, or disciplinary history. Students with special needs who use vouchers lose many rights granted under IDEA and may not have the protection of an individualized education plan. As a result, a significant number of students with special needs reject vouchers or leave voucher schools because they fail to provide essential services (Evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, U.S. Department of Education, June 2010). Students may also suffer because private schools are not subject to the same oversight, transparency, and accountability standards as public schools.

All four congressionally mandated U.S. Department of Education reports on the D.C. voucher program’s impact on student achievement (published in June 2010, March 2009, June 2008, and June 2007) found no significant improvement in reading or math scores among participants. The program also had no impact on students’ satisfaction, motivation, engagement, or perceptions of school safety. Moreover, participating students were less likely to have access to key services such as ESL programs, learning supports, special education supports and services, and counselors.

The U.S. Department of Education’s most recent report on the SOAR Act’s impact on the D.C. voucher program, published barely a year ago, found that:

Most vouchers still do not cover the full cost of private school tuition. In 64 percent of the participating schools, tuition exceeds the voucher cap. In light of this reality, the program can ultimately only help students from families with the means to make up the difference.

Vouchers still do not help kids most in need. While 69 percent of the students who apply for vouchers live in wards 1, 5, 7, and 8 (the least affluent areas of the city), less than half (43 percent) of the participating schools are located there. Many voucher students do not come from public schools labeled “in need of improvement,” but from other public—or even private—schools. If the program’s true goal is to lift up kids in poverty and expand their educational opportunities, it fails to do so.

Again, we urge you to Vote No on the Financial Services and General Government FY17 appropriations bill. Instead of taking taxpayer funds away from public schools and handing them over to private schools that only admit a select few students, we should focus on equipping all students for success and closing opportunity gaps for all students, no matter what zip code they live in.

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